Water-cooling tower.



No. 677,749. Patented July 2, I90I. J. E. SWENDEMAN.

WATER COOLING TOW-ER.

2 Sheets Sheet l.

(Application filed Mar. 8, 1901.) (No Model.)

Joseph E. SWendemarL,

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Patented July 2, l90l.

(Application filed Mar. 8, 1901.)

2 Shams-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOSEPH E. SWENDEMAN, OF B OSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

WATER-COOLING TOWER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 677,749, dated July 2,1901.

Application filed March 8, 1901.

To 0055 whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OSEPH E. SWENDEMAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvementsin Water-Cooling Towers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to simplify and increase the efficiencyof towers used for cooling water that has become heated by passing overthe coils of ice-making or refrigerat ing machinery or fromsteam-condensers and other sources; and to this end my inventionconsists in a water-tower having its interior provided with a series ofinclined upright surfaces having projections adapted to retard thedownward flow thereover of the heated water which has been forced up anddischarged into the upper portion of the tower, combined with meanswhereby cool air is caused to pass through the tower in contact with thewater flowing over said inclined surfaces to cool the same, ashereinafter set forth; and my invention also consists of certain othernovel fea-- tures of construction and combinations ofparts,ashereinafterfullydescribechandpointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a central vertical section ofa water-cooling tower constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig.'2 is a horizontal section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3is a horizontal section of the same on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isa plan of the top of the cone-frustum within the tower. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.

In the said drawings, A represents the outer wall of a water-coolingstructure or tower, preferably of cylindrical form and provided at itstop with a roof or cover I). This tower may be placed upon the roof of abuilding or may be supported upon a framework or in any other suitablemanner.

Centrally within the towerA is arranged a hollow cone-frustum B, securedat its lower edges to the bottom 0 of the tower, adapted to Serial No.50,392. (No model.)

is forced by a pump (not shown) and dis charged from a spraying device ein fine radial streams, so as .to be widely diffused within the upperportion of the tower, and by thus discharging the water from a centralpoint it is evenly and uniformly distributed within the tower in amanner to produce the best results.

E represents the inner wall of the tower, which is inclined inward fromthe top toward the bottom, an air-space or chamberf being thus formedbetween the inner and outer walls for the purpose of preventing as faras possible the transmission of heat from the outer to the inner wall.The air-space fis closed at its bottom by a partition 10 and air isadmitted to said space through inlet-openings 12 near its bottom andescapes through outlet-openings 14 near its top.

The inner wall E terminates a short distance above the bottom a, leavinga space g all around the bottom of the tower which communicates with aseries of openings h in the outer wall A for the escape of air forceddownward through the tower by means of a blower G, to which is connectedan upright pipe or conduit H, which extends up outside the tower andenters the same at the center of the roof or cover 1). Around the upperportion of the roof I) are formed a series of small outlet-openings 13,Figs. 1 and 5, to permit of the escape of the heated air which rises tothe top of the tower while the blower is in use.

To the inner wall E and also to the inclined sides of the cone-frustum Bare secured a series of horizontally-arranged parallel halfround stripsin of beading which form ledges or projections which materially increasethe surface area over which the heated water has to pass in its descent,thus retarding its flow and greatly increasing the length of time duriug which it is exposed to the cool currents of air forced down throughthe tower by the blower G, as previously described, and consequentlycausing the water to be much more rapidly cooled than would be the caseif it water and cause it to be exposed as long as possible to the cooldownward currents of air. To still further increase the surface areaover which the water may flow, I provide a series of narrow boards J,having horizontally-arranged half-round strips or projections 'n,socured to their opposite sides, down which the water impingingthereagainst will flow while exposed to the air-currents. These boardsare arranged vertically around the space between the Wall E and thecone-frustum B, and are suspended from a suitable frame orsupportp,carried by radial pipes s, to be presently described.

The water cooled, as above described, flows to the bottom of the towerand is discharged through an outlet-pipe q, leading to a tank or otherreceptacle. (Not shown.)

The air within the cone-frustum B as it becomes heated by the passagethereover of the water being cooled escapes through openings 7' in aseries of horizontal radially-arranged pipes s, which extend outwardthrough the outer walls of the tower,where the heated air is dischargedto be replaced by fresh cool air entering at the bottom of thecone-frustum B through the inlet-opening 15.

The coue-frustum B is kept cool by the circulation of air within thesame, as is also the wall E by the circulation of air within theair-space f, as previously described.

In cold weather the cost of running the blower may be saved, if desired,as the water may be cooled by'a natural upward draft of air through thetower, produced by removing the covers 16 of the openings 25 in the roofI), the air entering the openings h around the bottom of the tower andescaping through the said openings t. To afford convenient access tothese openings 15, I provide a stairway K, leading to a gallery L,extending around the tower, from which the said openings tcan be reachedto cover or uncover the same.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A water-cooling tower comprising an outer casing, a hollow innercasing closed to the interior of theouter casing and having externalbaffles or ribs, means for cooling the said inner casing from itsinterior, a waterdischarging device above the inner casing, air-outletsin the outer casing and means for supplying said outer casing with air-cur rents.

2. A water-cooling tower comprising an outer casing, a hollow innercasing arranged centrally within the outer casing and provided withbaffles or ribs to impede the downward flow of the water, means fordischarging the water on top of said inner casing and an air-supply pipedischarging downward through the top of the outer casing above saidwater-supply; the outer casing having airoutlets near its lower end;substantially as described.

3. The combination with a water-cooling tower having its inner wallinclined, of a conefrustum, arranged centrally within the same, saidcone-frustum and the inclined Wall of the tower encircling the same,being provided with ledges or projections adapted to retard the flow ofthe water thereover, substantially as described.

4:. A water-cooling tower, comprising the outer casing, an inner hollowcasing closed to the interior of the outer casing and having air-inletsat its bottom, pipes leading outwardly from the upper part of the innercasing through the outer casing, and means for discharging water uponthe upper end of said inner casing; substantially as described.

5.. A water-cooling tower comprising an outer casing having openings in.its top provided with means for closing them and also having openingsat its bottom, an inner hollow casing closed to the interior of theouter casing, provided with means for directing cooling air-currentsthrough it and having parallel ribs or battles to retard the flow ofwater and means for spraying water on top of the inner casing;substantially as described.

6. In a water-cooling tower, the combination with the outer wall, of theinwardly-inclin ed inner wall, provided with ledges or projections toretard the flow of the water thereover, and arranged to form anair-space between said walls, said air-space having inlet and outletopenings, substantially as described.

7. In a water-cooling tower, the combination with the inner wall and thecone-frustum arranged centrally within the same, of the suspendedvertical boards having horizontal projections or ledges on theiropposite sides, substantially as described.

8. A water-cooling tower comprising an outer casing, having anair-supply at its top, an inner closed casing having air-inlets at itsbottom, a water-supply pipe extending up through the inner casing andhaving a sprayer discharging upon the top of said inner casing,horizontal air-outlet pipes supported at their inner ends on thewater-pipe and extending outwardly through both casings, thevertically-disposed annular series of boards in the space between saidtwo casings and means for suspending said boards from the said airoutletpipes; substantially as described.

WVitness my hand this 5th day of March, A. D. 1901.

JOSEPH E. SYVENDEMAN.

In presence of P. E. TESOHEMACHER, F. B. SPAULDING.

IIS

